– Masonry of Adoption (now more properly termed the Adoptive Rite) is the title given to a series of degrees for women, arranged in France somewhere about the year 1765, and which were administered regularly, under the patronage of the Grand Orient of France, for many years. The system especially flourished under the empire, the Empress Josephine being at the head of the Order, and many noble and illustrious women being members. It was so called, it is said in the ritual, because the Freemasons adopted in their special labors, in these degrees, certain ladies, to whom they made known the mysteries that are the basis of this system.
[The following verses are excerpts from an inspirational poem, delivered by Mrs. Cora L. V. Tappan.]
O Sleep, whom the God hath made known, That mortals may dream what is death,
So the joy that shall finally come Shall not quite take away their full breath.
O Sleep, thou subduer of care, Thou touchest the brow that is sad,
And behold in the visions of air, The spirit grows young and grows glad.
O Sleep, thou art golden and glad, And thy feet are the softest and best,
Uplifting the world that is sad, And bidding the weary to rest.
And when thy sweet sister called Death Shall fold all the bodies to sleep,
Thy spirit with its living breath, That for ever its vigils doth keep,
Will show that the world men call dreams Is the world of a subtle delight ;
That the earth is the dream-life that seems, While above is the real world of light.
Very neat... pity, only, that the ideas are now for word from one of the early poems of Hugo... and he not dead yet.
